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Police investigating the slaying of a Cabbagetown woman have released new images to the public, including chilling security camera pictures showing a male suspect who was just steps behind the victim moments before she was stabbed to death last week during her walk home from work.

The image released by Toronto police on Sunday show items worn by the victim, 55-year-old Nighisti Semret, on the day she was killed around 6:30 a.m. in a laneway near her Winchester Street residence. The Eritrean refugee had just finished her overnight shift as a cleaner at the Delta Chelsea Hotel.

The photographs included images of two bags belonging to Semret, a light jacket she was wearing, her black shoes, a scarf, pants and a lilac umbrella she had been carrying at the time.

But the images also included four stills of a suspect, who was captured in surveillance footage from 85 Bleecker Street, where Semret had been walking eastbound towards Ontario Street.

The suspect is described as a white male, between 150 and 180 pounds with a medium build and dark eyebrows.

He is shown wearing a heavy, three-quarter-length dark jacket with circular buttons on the cuffs, as well as a dark hat and a light-coloured scarf around his neck. The description also says the suspect is wearing dark pants that appear to be baggy at the knee and lower leg, as well as dark, worn-looking shoes with laces.

The attack was apparently random, as Semret's purse was not stolen and she did not have a criminal record.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police at 416-808-7400, 416-808-7387, 416-808-7365, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).